Time and Again
by E.A. Knightly
Summary: Aly has to go visit her mother in Summerset, Michigan all because of stage fright. What happens when she finds another way to cure her phobia, even without her mother's paparazzi and mansion? AragornOC!
1. 11th Place

1 **Time and Again**

I took a deep breath, today was the day. I stretched my fingers and popped my back. "Aly, are you ready for the big moment?" asked my best friend, Samantha Joyce Reynolds.

"Yes," I stated nervously. "I can't wait." I wiggled my legs and stretched my arms. A man dressed all in blue, t-shirt and jeans, came out from behind the curtain and walked up to me.

"You're on in five."he stated, making me more nervous than I already was. "Don't blow this one sweety."

"Okay, Daddy," I said to my father, Kent Rosewood, the co-worker for the lights and sound system in the L.A. Special Talents group. "I won't." he smiled down at me with kind eyes and a hearty smile.

"Alexandria, don't forget, if you win or lose, I'll always be proud of you." he stated fondly. I had always loved my dad, but the accident caused me to love him even more and really appreciate everything I ever had.

I hugged him and waited for the ballerina on stage to finish her performance. I was going to play the piano for the contest. I had been taking lessons since I was thirteen and my love for the instrument only intensified when-

"Up next, with the song 'Once Upon a December' from the movie Anastasia, is Alexandria Rosewood!"

I looked up from my daze when the announcer spoke and looked towards my friends and father, "Wish me luck," I said slightly more confident than a moment ago. I climbed the steps and sat down at the piano, a small smile on my face. I switched the tone from 'funk' to 'piano' and inhaled deeply.

I played the beginning piano solo in the electric keyboard, falling into the music as my fingers ran over all of the notes.

Dancing bears,

Painted wings,

Things I almost remember,

And the song someone sings,

Once upon a December.

I switched the tone to 'chorus' as fast as I could and swayed to the flow of the music, I felt sleepy, the crowd's eyes were on me. I hate public events, I'm going to be sick!

I abruptly stopped playing and stood up. "I can't do this," I unconsciously whispered into the microphone. I looked over to where my father was. I saw him bow his head as if praying that I was somewhat going to lose my stage fright by magic. I stared at the crowed for a moment, _my father might not be ashamed of me, I thought to myself, but I'm ashamed of me_. With that last thought I turned and dashed at full speed off of the stage.

I ran strait towards my house, the hem of my skirt caught on a branch and ripped so I'm running at full speed and trying not to be a traveling nudist in the enormous town. Once I got to my house, which happened to be pretty big, I collapsed on my bed and cried my eyes out.

I must have been pretty tired because I woke up the next morning with the shirt I wore last night still on and my ripped skirt somewhat on, the point was I woke up with the same clothes on.

I changed my clothes and trudged down stairs to get some breakfast. I saw my dad talking on his cell phone and eating a pancake at the table, "She just up and ran," he said. "I knew we should have waited another year for the stage fright to go away," he spoke into the phone. _The whole town probably knows now,_ I thought glumly. _Why me?_

"Joanne, I don't know what to do," _oh, so now my mom's town knows all about it._ My parents have been divorced for five years and I haven't seen my mom in three years, now. I think about her all the time, but I feel bad for not remembering what she looks like...

"I think we're going to have to send Aly to live with you for the summer, you know, with the paparazzi all over you her stage fright will be gone by the time school starts." My dad suggested to my mom.

At that part, I decided to walk down stairs and pretend I didn't hear anything from the conversation. "Morning dad," I said in a sarcastic voice. "How did I do last night? Eleventh place?"

"Yeah, probably," he said not noticing my sarcasm. I moaned, when will he ever learn?

"Alright, I'll send her right over," he said and flipped his phone closed.

"Aly, you're seventeen, and old enough to make your own choices," Kent began before I interrupted him. "Wow, you really remembered?" I asked, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "I'm touched."

"Aly, I was thinking about letting you stay with your mother this summer, you know you haven't seen her in three years."

"No friggin' dip!"

"Aly!" Kent said, raising his voice. "I only want what's best for you, you know that!" he cried desperately.

"Well dad, you'd know what's best for me if you took time off work and payed attention to me!" I yelled frustrated and stormed up the stairs but only far enough up to where I could hear his voice from the kitchen.

He picked up his phone and dialed what I guessed to be my mother's number. "Joanne?" he spoke into the phone, score for me! "It's Kent, I think I'll be sending Aly over to Michigan. She agreed instantly!" he said. The lie is the only thing that will cure my phobia of being on stage.

Well, I'm going to prove him wrong, I'm going to make sure that I can get over stage fright without my mother's paparazzi help!

I felt tears sting my eyes as I packed up my suit case and prepared to leave for my mother's place in Michigan.


	2. flights and friends

I sat in the plane for my "trip" to my mother's place. In case you're confused, my mother's in the music business, too. She writes and performs her own music, and she stared in the movie 'Deadline'. (A/n I'm just making this up, so I own it, yay!)

Basically, it's about this girl who is trying to get this guy, but she's embarrassed because she has a disability, so she has her friend pretend to be her, except for on the phone. It's a pretty good movie.

Anyway, the flight takes about two hours and I'm bored crapless. I ended up sitting next to a grumpy, old guy and a woman who won't shut up. I at least pretended that I was nice.

"Attention passengers, we're on final approach and preparing to land." Said the pilot into the intercom.

"Finally," I shouted with glee. "I was afraid that this flight would never end!"

I picked up my bag from the top of my seat and stepped off the plane. I scanned the air port for my mom. She had red hair that sat up in a bunny bun on top of her round face, lilac eyes, which I inherited from her, and a pixie nose.

I still haven't spotted her and it's been five minutes. I roamed the port and searched for a mop of red hair and a bunch of paparazzi. I went up to a bunch of people with signs and searched for my name. Rosewood, Rosewood, Rosewood!

I saw a man dressed in a black tux and navy-blue hat holding up a sign that said "ALEXANDRIA ROSEWOOD" in bold letters. The sign seemed to be longer than he could manage, so he dropped it about six times before I got over to his side.

"Hey….dude, I'm Alexandria," I said, slightly impatient from being on the plane for that long anyway. Come to think of it, I wasn't really all that patient to begin with. The man stopped trying to pick up the long piece of cardboard and faced me.

"Hello Alexandria," he said with a British accent evident in his voice. "You might not have noticed, but I am quite busy waiting for someone." He said, probably just as impatient as I am.

"Oh really, well who are you waiting for?" I asked, testing his nerves as he began to try to adjust the sign in his hands again.

"A young woman named Alexandria Rosewood," he replied as though the sign wasn't even there.

"Really?" I asked with false enthusiasm. "Well what a coincidence, that's my name, too!"

Listen to me, I'm sounding like an innocent, little girl! Oh, when did that ever happen?

"Oh, then you must be…. Hey, wait a minute!" he shouted at me, then a smile became visible as we broke out into a fit of laughter and giggles.

"I'm Ralph Harrison, I'm also your driver and personal assistant," stated my new friend. "And I can already see who you are."

I smiled up at the man, "Yeah, chuckle in case you didn't know I'm here to see my mom. I haven't visited her in four years." I stated a little sad.

"Well then we must get you over to her…uh, mansion." He said, searching for the right words. He picked up one of my two suitcases and we headed off to the car.

Okay, when I say "Car", I mean ginormous, awesome, white limo! It was the biggest car I've ever seen! "Whoa," I breathed out the moment we reached the limo.

"It is rather fancy isn't it?" Ralph asked for my opinion. "Well, that's your mother for you, stylish little thing isn't she?"

He opened the door for me and we began the long, car-ride home.

When we got to the mansion, a few people came out to help carry my bags into my room. From the looks of the outside, I was going to have a lot of space to myself!


End file.
